NEW YORK and PARIS, April 3,
2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Livebosses, TBWA's unit which
specializes in executive communications on social networks,
conducted a study of LinkedIn posts by CEOs around the world since
the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, comparing the posts'
reaction and engagement rates to content created before the
pandemic.
Out of the panel of 100 international CEOs covering all business
sectors, including financial services, retail, automotive, consumer
packaged goods and more, 60 CEOs have communicated on LinkedIn
since the beginning of the crisis, and are seeing exceptionally
high engagement rates as a result: half (30) have seen the most
reactions ("like," "love" or "celebrate") obtained on a LinkedIn
post in 2020 from their content addressing the virus and its
business impact.
While many CEOs and leaders believe they are effectively
communicating with their employees and key stakeholders through
internal communications channels like email, company video
broadcasts, Workplace from Facebook or intranets, a recent study
from The Brunswick Group found that 80% of employees expect to hear
from their CEO on social media during a crisis. Yet 40% of CEOs are
not using social channels to communicate to key stakeholders about
COVID-19, according to TBWA's audit.
"People want to hear from their employers in turbulent times,
and not just through traditional internal communications channels,"
said Nicolas Bordas, who leads the
Livebosses unit for TBWA. "CEOs are seen as the most credible
sources of information but not enough of them are using their
voice. The high engagement levels we saw in our analysis from those
who did show just how important it is for leaders to not 'go dark'
in crisis."
The number of positive reactions ("like," "love" or "celebrate")
obtained by the 60 business leaders on their most popular post
during the crisis is 469,904*, while the number of reactions
obtained by these 60 business leaders for their most "liked,"
"loved" or "celebrated" post before the crisis was 247,352*,
representing a 90% increase in the rate of engagement.
The 5 most positively reacted to posts during the crisis were
these:
- Alfred Kelly, CEO of VISA
(Guaranteed job security at VISA in 2020)
- Arianna Huffington, CEO of THRIVE
GLOBAL (Importance of containment)
- Arne Sorenson, CEO of MARRIOTT
(Impact and consequences of the crisis)
- Satya Nadella, CEO of MICROSOFT
(Payment of hourly workers during crisis)
- Doug McMillon, CEO of WALMART
(Acknowledgements to associates)
The main themes of the most reacted to posts were:
- Gratitude to internal teams
- Ensuring business continuity during the crisis
- How the company is helping, giving back or contributing
The least engaging and least successful posts from CEOs did not
express enough gratitude to employees, were too company-centric,
were presented without a photo, or included a reposted link without
context or comment.
TBWA tracks 100 of the world's most active CEOs across social
media weekly. The analysis also found that most CEOs are currently
active on Twitter, likely to connect with the public and external
stakeholders, but are far less active on LinkedIn, where more of
their employees are.
According to TBWA's audit, of the top 25 most active global CEOs
on social media, 52% don't have an active presence on LinkedIn, and
only 28% have posted during the coronavirus crisis, missing an
opportunity to connect with employees and other key stakeholders by
not adding LinkedIn as a secondary channel.
"Employees have high expectations of company managers during
this period, which comes not only from their need for reassurance,
but also from their desire for companies to engage in actions that
are useful to the community and world at large. Employees expect to
hear from their leaders on social media and other key stakeholders
like clients, shareholders and partners, expect the same," added
Bordas.
CEOs and managers can begin by following some simple
guidelines:
- Be empathic and acknowledge your employees' contributions
- Think bigger than your company
- Be human and personal in your communications
As part of its product offering, Livebosses analyzes CEO social
media presence and provides leaders with a personal presence
scorecard. The scorecard is informed by visibility on search
engines such as Google and presence on social channels like
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as applicable.
LinkedIn and Twitter were examined for this analysis of global
CEOs because they are the most global of communications platforms.
It should be noted that in certain regions like the Middle East, Facebook is utilized by CEOs as a
communication platform. Instagram is an important channel for
industries like luxury goods, fashion and design. But they are not
utilized broadly enough by executives to be included in this
report.
*Figures as of March 29, 2020.
About TBWAWorldwide
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Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide
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